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ABORIGINAL   TOBACCOS 


BY  WILLIAM  ALBERT  SETCHELL 


Reprinted  from  THE  AMERICAN  ANTHROPOLOGIST,  Vol.  23,  No.  4,  October-December, 

1921. 


er-77 


[Reurmted  from  the  AMKRION  ANTHROPOLOGIST,  Vol.  23,  No.  4,  Oct.-Dec..  1921.] 


ABORIGINAL   TOBACCOS 
BY  WILLIAM  ALBERT  SETCHELL 

ACCORDING  to  De  Candolle  in  his  Origin  of  Cultivated  Plants* 
somewhat  over  forty  of  the  plants  now  generally  cultivated 
came  from  the  Americas,  some  of  them  having  been  intro 
duced  into  Europe  very  soon  after  the  discovery  of  the  "  new  conti 
nent  "  by  Columbus.  This  has  been  regarded  as  being  true  particu 
larly  of  maize,  potatoes,  and  tobacco.  There  have  nqt  been  wanting 
claims  as  to  other  origins  for  many  of  these  supposedly  American 
cultivated  plants  and  the  tobaccos  have  frequently  been  under  sus 
picion.  The  most  careful  investigations,  however,  have  tended  only 
to  confirm  the  idea  of  the  non-existence  of  any  species  of  tobacco 
used  for  smoking,  snuffing,  or  chewing  outside  the  confines  of  the 
American  continents.  The  latest  writer  to  claim  a  non-American 
origin  for  tobacco,  as  well  as  certain  other  cultivated  plants  of  sup 
posedly  American  origin,  is  Leo  Wiener.2  Professor  Wiener  de 
votes  ninety  pages  of  his  book  to  a  consideration  of  tobacco,  chiefly 
from  the  point  of  view  of  its  various  names.  His  conclusions  appear 
to  be  that  the  cultivated  tobacco  originated  in  Africa  and  was  intro 
duced  thence  into  the  Americas  by  Negro  slaves  imported  by  the 
Spaniards.  The  linguistic  evidence  brought  forward  by  Professor 
Wiener  seems  to  one  unacquainted  with  the  value  of  such  evidence  as 
to  origins  and  migrations  of  peoples,  plants,  etc.,  to  be  far-fetched  and 


i  Origin   of   Cultivated   Plants,   in   Internal.    Sci.    Series,   vol.    48,    New   York, 
1885. 

-Africa   and   the  Discovery   of  America,   vol.    i,   Philadelphia,    1920. 
26  397 


398  AMERICAN   ANTHROPOLOGIST  [N.  s.,  23,  1921 

often  trivial.  The  discussion  of  this  portion  of  Wiener's  claim  has 
been  taken  up  by  one  well  qualified  to  estimate  its  worth.1 

The  botanical  evidence,  however,  has  not  been  dealt  with  to  any 
extent  by  Wiener,  and,  in  fact,  he  does  not  seem  at  all  aware  that 
there  is  any  complexity  to  this  side  of  the  question  he  attempts  to 
settle  so  readily  and  so  smugly.  While  we  are  by  no  means  certain  as 
to  the  exact  sources  of  the  two  species  of  Nicotiana  most  commonly 
used  for  smoking,  viz.,  Nicotiana  Tabacum  and  N.  rustica,  all  evi 
dence  in  our  possession  is  strongly  against  the  assumption  of  a  non- 
American  origin.  It  seems  to  the  botanist  that  Nicotiana  Tabacum, 
for  example,  is  much  more  likely  to  have  been  carried  from  Brazil 
or  the  West  Indies,  where  its  culture  was  early  widespread,  if  not 
aboriginal,  to  Africa,  by  the  very  agents  who  procured  the  Negro 
slaves  for  American  use.  In  doing  so,  it  seems  very  likely  that  the 
Brazilian  or  other  American  names  may  thus  have  been  transferred 
early  to  Africa  along  with  the  plants  to  which  they  belonged,  and 
have  become  firmly  and  extensively  incorporated  into  African  native 
languages.  However  this  may  or  may  not  be,  the  strongest  botanical 
evidence  for  the  American  origin  of  the  tobaccos,  as  used  by  man, 
is  the  existence  of  a  large  number  of  species  of  Nicotiana,  undoubt 
edly  native  to  the  Cordilleran  ranges,  extending  from  the  State  of 
Washington  in  the  United  States  of  North  America  to  the  central 
portions  of  Chile  in  South  America.  The  only  species  of  Nicotiana 
which  are  undoubtedly  extra-American  are  two,  viz.,  N.  suaveolens 
and  N.  fragrans,  natives  of  the  Australian  region,  closely  related  to 
certain  Chilean  species,  and  never  used  for  smoking  or  similar  pur 
poses  before  the  advent  of  the  white  man  to  the  countries  where  they 
are  known  to  occur. 

Of  the  somewhere  in  the  neighborhood  of  seventy  species  of 
Nicotiana  generally  recognized,  there  are  to  be  found  in  North 
America,  either  growing  wild  or  in  aboriginal  cultivation,  some  four 
teen  species.  Of  these  fourteen  North  American  species,  I  have 
evidence  of  the  use  of  nine  species  or  varieties  by  different  tribes  of 
American  Indians  at  the  present  time.  At  present  they  are  used 

i  Cf.  R.  B.  Dixon,  American  Anthropologist,  vol.  22,  no.  2,  April-June, 
1920,  especially  pp.  179-181,  and  "Words  for  Tobacco  in  American  Indian 
Languages,"  ibid.,  vol.  23,  no.  i,  pp.  i9~49- 


SETCHELL]  ABORIGINAL  TOBACCOS  399 

only,  or  at  least  chiefly,  for  ceremonial  purposes,  their  use  for  smok 
ing  generally  having  been  superseded  by  the  trade-tobacco  early  intro 
duced  by  the  white  traders.  It  is  to  the  close  association  of  tobacco 
with  the  religious  and  social  observances  of  the  various  tribes  of 
North  American  Indians  that  we  owe  the  continuation  of  the  use,  and 
particularly  of  the  cultivation,  of  aboriginal  tobaccos  and  the  oppor 
tunity  of  obtaining  first-hand  information  as  to  the  species  employed 
as  well  as  to  the  ceremonies  connected  with  their  use.  For  some 
what  over  fifteen  years  I  have  been  collecting  information  on  the 
subject  of  the  species  employed  and  have  importuned  every  anthro 
pologist  who  was  luckless  enough  to  come  into  my  circle  of  acquaint 
ances  to  assist  in  obtaining  seed  of  any  possible  species  of  Nicotiana 
still  found  to  be  in  aboriginal  use.  The  result  has  exceeded  my 
original  expectations  by  far,  and  a  number  of  species  which  I  had 
imagined  to  be  beyond  further  proof  than  mere  mention  of  their 
employment  by  one  tribe  or  another  have  been  found  still  in  use  and 
either  cultivated  or  collected  wild.  Of  these,  seed  has  been  procured 
in  practically  all  cases,  and  I  have  been  able  to  grow  it  in  the 
botanical  garden  at  the  University  of  California  and  assure  myself 
as  to  the  identity. 

The  use  of  narcotics  is  found  to  be  general  wherever  they  are 
readily  available  and  it  is  remarkable  how  quickly  and  how  widely 
the  use  of  a  narcotic  will  spread  when  once  introduced.  This  has 
been  particularly  the  case  with  tobacco  after  the  discovery  of 
America,  as  Tiedemann1  has  so  convincingly  shown.  The  extent  of 
the  use  of  the  narcotics,  tobacco  and  coca,  in  the  Americas  previous 
to  1492  is  well  delineated  by  Wissler.2  Wissler's  chart  distinguishes 
between  the  areas  where  tobacco  was  chewed  and  those  where  it  was 
smoked,  and  it  even  distinguishes  between  the  areas  where  the  tubular 
or  elbow  pipes  were  smoked  and  those  where  cigars  or  cigarettes 
were  employed.  This  chart  indicates  that  tobacco  was  used  over  the 
whole  of  both  Americas  with  the  exception  of  the  extreme  northern 
portions  of  North  America  and  the  extreme  southern  portions  of 
South  America.  The  tribes  of  North  American  Indians  who  were 
fortunate  enough  to  dwell  in  a  region  provided  with  a  native  species 

i  Geschichte   des   Tabaks,  Frankfurt   a   M.,    1854. 
-  The  American  Indian,  fig.  8,  New  York,  1917. 


4OO  AMERICAN   ANTHROPOLOGIST  [N.S.,  23,   1921 

of  Nicotiana  seem  to  have  learned  to  use  it  and  to  have  paid  little 
or  no  attention  to  its  cultivation.  Some  such  tribes,  however,  did 
burn  over  small  areas  to  make  the  wild  tobacco  grow  more  abun 
dantly  or  more  luxuriantly.  The  tribes  of  North  American  Indians, 
living  in  areas  destitute  of  a  native  species  of  Nicotiana,  either  culti 
vated  some  species  or  obtained  their  supply  from  other  tribes  who 
had  a  supply,  cultivated  or  wild.  The  relation  of  the  different  species 
of  North  American  tobacco  to  the  various  trade  routes  of  the  Indians 
has  not  as  yet  been  investigated,  but  some  suggestions  as  to  these 
relations  may  become  apparent  as  I  proceed  with  the  present  discus 
sion.  When  tobacco  was  cultivated,  its  planting,  at  least,  was  usually 
attended  with  more  or  less  elaborate  ceremonies. 

The  species  of  Nicotiana  which  is  best  and  most  widely  known  is 
Nicotiana  Tabacum  L.  It  is  pink-flowered  and  is  the  only  species 
belonging  to  its  section  of  the  genus.  The  variation  within  the 
species,  however,  is  so  very  considerable  that  at  least  five  subspecies 
may  be  segregated,  and,  superficially  at  least,  these  seem  distinct 
enough  to  be  considered  as  species.  The  subspecies  may  each  be 
divided  and  subdivided  again  and  again  into  a  very  large  number  of 
varieties  and  subvarieties,  so  that,  in  general,  Nicotiana  Tabacum  has 
all  the  ear-marks  of  an  old  and  widely  cultivated  plant.  The  culti 
vation  of  this  species,  in  its  various  forms,  is  almost  exclusive  at 
present  for  the  tobacco  trade  of  all  nations.  It  was  the  aboriginal 
tobacco  of  the  West  Indies,  of  the  greater  part  of  Mexico,  of  the 
states  of  Central  America,  of  the  United  States  of  Colombia,  of 
Venezuela,  of  the  Guianas,  and  of  Brazil.  The  Brazilian  name  of 
this  species  is  said  to  have  been  "petun,"  and  this  name  was  very 
generally  used  for  tobacco  in  the  accounts  of  it  in  the  sixteenth  cen 
tury.  Wiener1  thinks  that  this  word  is  a  corruption  of  the  Portu 
guese  "betume,"  meaning  a  pasty  substance.  It  seems  strange  that 
this  derivation  of  the  name  was  not  known,  if  true,  to  any  of  the 
writers  on  tobacco  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries.  The 
Mexican  name  for  Nicotiana  Tabacum,  "piecelt,"  was  also  early 
widespread. 

The  origin,  as  well  as  the  original  sources,  of  Nicotiana  Tabacum 

1  Loc.   cit.,  p.   135. 


SETCHELL]  ABORIGINAL  TOBACCOS  40! 

is  uncertain,  since  it  is  not  known  in  the  wild  condition  in  any  of  the 
countries  where  it  is  under  cultivation.  It  seems  probable  that  it 
may  have  originated  in  the  interior  of  Brazil  and  possibly  somewhere 
on  the  lower  eastern  slopes  of  the  Andes.  It  is  very  evidently  a 
tropical  species  and  in  the  tropics  often  becomes  spontaneous,  escap 
ing  from  cultivation  and  persisting  in  favorable  localities.  Some 
varieties  are  semi-hardy  in  regions  of  little  frost,  but  frostless  and 
humid  areas  are  evidently  similar  to  its  ancestral  home.  Edward 
Palmer  found  it  in  Indian  cultivation  in  southern  Arizona  under  the 
name  of  "  Yaqui  Tobacco." x  This  "  Yaqui  Tobacco  "  is  referred  by 
Gray  to  the  var.  undulata  Sendtner.  North  of  Mexico,  however, 
Nicotiana  Tabacum  was  practically  unknown  in  aboriginal  use. 

The  yellow-flowered  tobacco,  Nicotiana  rustica  L.,  was  the  second 
species  of  tobacco  to  attract  the  notice  of  Europeans  and  for  some 
time  almost  monopolized  attention.  This  was  the  first  species  of 
tobacco  to  be  cultivated  in  the  Colony  of  Virginia.  It  was  fairly 
soon  supplanted  there,  however,  by  a  variety  of  Nicotiana  Tabacum 
called  "  Orinoco,"  introduced,  it  is  said,  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  or 
through  his  recommendation.  Nicotiana  rustica  is  still  the  home 
grown  species  of  the  peasants  of  Central  Europe  and  still  furnishes 
the  Syrian  "  Tombac  "  for  the  water-pipes  of  western  Asia.  It  is  a 
much  more  hardy  species  than  is  Nicotiana  Tabacum  and  has  been 
credited  with  being  a  native  of  the  Old  World.  There  seems  to  be 
no  exact  evidence,  however,  that  this  is  so,  and,  although  it  has  not 
been  found  in  undoubted  wild  condition,  the  general  supposition  is 
that  it  probably  originated  in  Mexico.  It  seems  fairly  certain  that  it 
is  American  and  probably  Cordilleran  like  all  its  near  relatives  of  the 
Rustica  section  of  the  genus  Nicotiana.  Like  Nicotiana  Tabacum, 
N.  rustica  was  described  and  figured  in  pre-Linnean  herbals,  espe 
cially  in  certain  of  those  of  the  sixteenth  century,  where  it  was  desig 
nated  as  the  lesser  or  female  tobacco,  while  N.  Tabacum  was  called 
the  greater  or  male  tobacco. 

Nicotiana  rustica  seems  to  have  been  cultivated  and  smoked  by 
all  of  the  Indian  tribes  of  North  America  east  of  the  Mississippi 
River  and  by  most  of  those  immediately  to  the  west  of  it.  The  west- 

1  Gray,  Synoptical  Flora  of  North  America,  vol.   2,   pt.    i,   New   York,    1878, 
p.  241. 


402  AMERICAN   ANTHROPOLOGIST  [x.s.,  23,   1921 

ern  boundary  of  its  aboriginal  cultivation  or  use  is,  naturally,  difficult 
to  determine  with  exactness,  but  is  probably  along  the  line  of  the 
eastern  boundary  of  the  "  Plains  Area "  as  outlined  by  Wissler.1 
The  use  of  this  species,  then,  may  be  supposed  to  have  extended  over 
the  "  Eastern  Woodland  Area  "  and  the  "  Southeastern  Area  "  of  the 
social  groups  of  North  American  Indians  as  classified  according  to 
their  cultures.  The  evidence  on  which  this  supposition  is  based  is 
scanty,  but  reasonably  convincing.  In  the  first  place,  we  know  that 
smoking  was  general  over  these  culture  areas  and  was  held  of  impor 
tance  as  a  ceremony.  In  the  second  place,  Strachey,  about  i6io,2 
speaks  definitely  of  the  flower  of  the  tobacco  of  the  Virginian  Indians 
as  having  a  yellow  color  and  otherwise  as  conforming  to  the  descrip 
tion  of  Nicotiana  rustica.  It  is  interesting  to  note  here  that  the 
Indian  name  for  the  Virginia  tobacco  was  "Uppowoc,"  or,  as 
Strachey  wrote  it,  "  Apooke."  In  the  third  place,  the  Onondaga  In 
dians,  center  nation,  fire-keepers,  tobacco  nation,  and  holders  of  the 
responsibility  of  general  referendum  of  the  Five  Nations  or  Iroquois, 
still  cultivate  Nicotiana  rustica  as  the  "  Sacred  Tobacco "  of  their 
confederacy.  I  have  been  able  to  grow  plants  from  Onondaga  seed 
kindly  furnished  by  Chief  Cornplanter  through  Arthur  C.  Parker. 
W.  M.  Beauchamp3  mentions  Nicotiana  rustica  as  the  species  called 
"  O-yen-kwa-hon-we,"  and  I  have  seen  specimens  of  the  Onondaga 
plant  provided  by  him  in  the  Herbarium  at  the  New  York  Botanical 
Garden.  The  Iroquois  tradition  of  the  origin  of  the  tobacco  plant 
is  related  by  Arthur  C.  Parker.4  As  stated  by  Esquire  Johnson,  an 
old  Seneca  chief,  to  Mrs.  Asher  Wright,  the  missionary,  the  squash 
grew  from  the  earth  directly  over  Earth-Mother's  navel,  the  beans 
from  that  above  her  feet,  and  the  tobacco-plant  from  that  above  her 
head.  "  Thus,"  he  added,  "  it  soothes  the  mind  and  sobers  thought." 
In  the  fourth  place,  tobacco  seed  from  the  Winnebago  Indians  of 
Minnesota,  furnished  by  Dr.  Melvin  R.  Gilmore,  yielded  Nicotiana 

1  Loc.   cit.,   p.   207. 

2  Strachey,    William,    The    Historic    of    Travaile    into    Virginia     Brittania, 
Hakluyt  Society,   London,   pp.    121,    122,    1849. 

3  Onondaga    Indian    Names    for   Plants,   Bull.    Torrey   Botan.    Club,   vol.    16, 

PP-   54,   55- 

4  Indian  Uses   of   Maize  and   other   Food   Plants,  Bull.  No.   114,  New    York 
State  Museum,   1910,  p.  37. 


SETCHELL]  ABORIGINAL  TOBACCOS  403 

nistica,  on  being  grown.  In  the  fifth  place,  and  finally  in  the  evi 
dence,  there  occur  spontaneous  plants  of  Nicotiana  nistica  in  various 
parts  of  these  general  areas,  which  seem  to  be  remnants  of  earlier 
Indian  cultivation.  Possibly  some  of  these  which  have  been  collected 
and  recorded  may  have  been  ballast  weeds  or  escapes  from  cultivation 
more  recent  than  that  of  the  Indians,  but  some  of  them  seem  fairly 
certainly  to  be  relics  of  aboriginal  culture.  Such  possible  remnants  of 
Indian  cultivation  are  credited  to  Connecticut,  New  York,  Wisconsin, 
Illinois,  Minnesota,  and  Texas,  in  other  words  indicating  an  aboriginal 
cultivation  of  Nicotiana  nistica  extending  well  over  the  general  areas 
to  which  I  have  assigned  it.  These  facts,  together  with  the  general 
plausibility  of  the  supposition,  have  led  me  to  map  out  the  areas  of 
aboriginal  culture  for  this  species  as  I  have  indicated  above. 

The  third  section  of  the  genus  Nicotiana  is  called  the  Petunioides- 
section  whose  corollas  are  typically  salverform  and  whose  color  is 
white,  although  often  tinged  with  green,  red,  or  purple.  About 
twelve  species  or  well-marked  varieties  of  this  section  occur  within 
the  confines  of  North  America  or  the  adjacent  islands,  but  only  seven 
of  them  are  at  all  definitely  known  to  me  as  having  been  used  by  the 
Indians.  There  is  a  most  interesting  group  of  five  species  and 
varieties  centering  about  Nicotiana  Bigelovii  (Torr.)  Watson  and  one 
very  widespread  species  Nicotiana  attenuata  Torr.  The  five  species 
of  this  section  of  the  genus  which  are  not  as  yet  known  to  have  been 
in  use  by  the  Indians  are  the  following:  Nicotiana  acuminata  var. 
parviflora  Comes.  ?,  in  central  California;  Ar.  Clevelandii  Gray,  in 
southwestern  California,  possibly  used  by  the  Santa  Barbara  and 
other  tribes  of  coast  Indians;  N.  repanda  Willd.,  in  southwestern 
Texas  and  adjacent  portions  of  Mexico;  N.  plumb  agini  folia  Viv.,  in 
northeastern  Mexico  and  crossing  the  Rio  Grande  into  Texas;  and 
N.  Stocktoni  Brandegee,  on  Guadalupe  Island  off  the  coast  of  Lower 
California. 

The  Nicotiana  Bigelovii-group  consists  of  three  very  well  marked 
varieties  of  N.  Bigelovii  (Torr.)  Watson,  N.  quadrivalvis  Pursh,  and 
N.  multivalvis  Landl.  There  is  such  a  close  resemblance  in  so  many 
details  of  habit  and  structure  that  it  certainly  seems  probable  that  the 
five  distinct  genetic  entities  of  the  Bigelovii-group  must  have.origi- 


404  AMERICAN   ANTHROPOLOGIST  [x.  s.,  23,   1921 

nated  from  one  and  the  same  stock,  possibly  through  mutation,  but 
probably  also  complicated  by  more  or  less  hybridization.  Their  dis 
tribution  in  nature  and  under  aboriginal  cultivation  reenforces  this 
assumption  with  strong  arguments.  The  three  varieties  of  Nicotiana 
Bigelovii  are  found  native  in  three  separate  portions  of  California, 
N.  multivalvis  was  cultivated  by  the  Indians  in  Oregon,  Idaho,  and 
Montana,  while  N.  quad  rival-vis  was  similarly  cultivated  in  North 
Dakota.  The  distribution  of  this  group  runs  from  southern  Cali 
fornia  north  through  the  entire  state  of  California  and  well  into 
Oregon,  possibly  also  entering  the  southeastern  corner  of  the  state 
of  Washington.  From  Oregon,  it  bends  eastward  up  along  the  tribu 
taries  of  the  Columbia  River,  across  Idaho  and  the  continental  divide, 
and  descends  the  Missouri  River  into  Montana  and  North  Dakota. 
With  these  ideas  as  to  the  group  and  its  distribution,  the  way  is  made 
ready  for  a  consideration  of  its  various  members. 

Torrey  was  the  first  to  call  attention  to  Nicotiana  Bigelovii  which 
he  named  N.  plumb aginifolia!  var.  Bigelovii.  This  was  as  early  as 
1857.  In  1871,  Watson  raised  the  variety  to  a  species  and  published 
a  more  complete  description,  as  well  as  a  good  figure  of  it.  The 
type  specimens  came  from  the  Sierran  foothills  in  central  California 
and  are  low  spreading  plants,  with  short  internodes,  ascending 
branches,  large  and  conspicuous  white  flowers,  and  prominent  glandu 
lar  pubescence  turning  brownish,  or  rusty,  with  age.  S.  A.  Barrett 
lound  it  in  the  general  type  region  in  use  among  the  Miwok  Indians 
and  was  kind  enough  to  obtain  seed  for  me.  I  have  grown  it  in  the 
pure  line  for  many  years  and  find  that  it  retains  its  distinctive  varietal 
characteristics  from  generation  to  generation.  This  plant,  the  taxo- 
nomic  type  of  Nicotiana  Bigelovii,  occupies  an  area  in  the  very  center 
of  California  which  is  definitely  limited  and  also  separated  from  the 
areas  occupied  by  the  other  varieties  of  the  species. 

The  plant  which  has  usually  passed  under  the  name  of  Nicotiana 
Bigelovii,  however,  is  the  tall  erect  variety  found  in  abundance  in  the 
dry  washes  of  stream-beds  to  the  north  of  San  Francisco  Bay,  from 
Sonoma,  Mendocino,  and  Humboldt  Counties  eastward  to  Shasta  and 
possibly  also  other  counties  of  California.  This  variety,  which  as 
yet  has  no  distinctive  name,  may  reach  a  height  of  as  much  as  six 


SETCHELL]  ABORIGINAL  TOBACCOS  405 

feet,  has  long  erect  branches  with  elongated  internodes,  and  with 
large  flowers  which  are  more  separated  than  in  the  plants  of  the 
taxonomic  type.  In  common  with  the  type  of  the  species,  this  tall 
and  erect  variety  has  a  decided  tendency  toward  a  three-celled  ovary 
and  such  are  to  be  found  in  most  well-developed  plants  although  in 
a  small  percentage  of  the  total  number  of  capsules  matured.  Chest 
nut1  states  that  this  variety  is  used  for  smoking  and  also  for  chewing 
by  all  the  Indian  tribes  of  Mendocino  County,  California.  Thanks 
to  P.  E.  Goddard2  and  S.  A.  Barrett,  I  have  perfectly  reliable  evi 
dence  that  it  is  still  used  by  the  Hupa  and  the  Pomo.  The  Hupa,  at 
least,  knew  it  both  wild  and  cultivated,3  but  the  Pomo  seem  to  have 
used  only  the  wild  plant.  As  to  how  far  the  use  of  this  variety 
extended  into  Oregon  I  am  uncertain,  but  I  have  the  opinion  that,  to 
wards  its  northern  limits  and  beyond  them,  attempts  were  made  to 
cultivate  it,  as  certainly  was  the  case  among  the  Hupa.  Northern 
California  represents  the  limit  of  the  spontaneous  distribution  of  any 
coastal  species  of  Nicotiana  and  in  Oregon  we  find  that  the  cultivated 
tobacco  of  certain  Indian  tribes  was  a  nearly  related  species,  or 
possibly  derived  variety,  of  N.  Bigelovii,  viz.,  N.  multivalvis  Lindl. 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that  it  was  some  form  of  the  Bigelovii- 
group  of  the  genus  Nicotiana  which  was  used  by  the  Indians  whom 
Drake  encountered  in  1579,  when  he  landed  on  the  coast  of  California, 
somewhere  in  the  vicinity  of  Drake's  Bay.  Wiener*  remarks  on 
Drake's  account  as  follows :  "  That  tabaco,  first  mentioned  in  His- 
paniola,  should  have  found  its  way  so  far  to  the  northwest,  in  addi 
tion  to  the  rest  of  the  continent,  is  a  prima  facie  proof  that  the  dis 
tribution  of  tobacco  follows  from  its  first  appearance  under  Arabic 
influence,  from  Guinea  to  all  countries  where  Spanish,  Portuguese, 
and  French  sailors  navigated  via  Guinea  or  after  having  taken  part 
in  Guinea  expeditions."  The  extreme  improbability  of  Nicotiana 
Bigelovii  having  originated  in  Guinea  and  having  been  brought  thence 

1  Plants  used  by  the  Indians  of  Mendocino  County,  California,  Contr.  U.  S. 
National  Herb.,  vol.  7,  no.  3,  pp.  386,  387,  1902. 

2  Life   and   Culture   of   the    Hupa,    in    Univ.    Calif.   Pubs.,   Amer.   Arch,    and 
Eth.,   vol.    i,   no.    i,   p.    37,    1903. 

3  Goddard,   loc.   cit. 
*  Loc.  cit.,  p.   14;. 


406  AMERICAN   ANTHROPOLOGIST  [x.  s.,  23,  1921 

to  the  State  of  California,  the  only  place  where  it  has  ever  been 
known,  and  through  any  human  agency,  takes  away  the  effectiveness 
of  this  " prima  facie  proof"  and  yields  another  strong  probability 
that  the  tobacco  of  Hispaniola  may  have  been  carried  from  Hispan- 
iola  to  Guinea  rather  than  that  any  species  of  tobacco  may  have  been 
brought  from  Guinea  to  Hispaniola  or  any  other  portion  of  the  Amer 
ican  Continent. 

The  third  variety  of  Nicotiana  Bigelovii,  the  var.  Wallacei  Gray, 
is  found  in  a  limited  area  in  southern  California  and  distinctly  sep 
arated,  in  its  distribution,  from  either,  or  both,  of  the  other  varieties 
of  the  species.  Var.  Wallacei  is  a  plant  of  medium  height,  erect,  and 
much  more  slender  than  either  of  the  two  varieties  of  central  and  of 
northern  California.  It  has  a  smaller  flower  with  more  slender  tube 
and  I  have  never  seen  a  three-celled  ovary  among  several  thousand 
examined,  all  the  ovaries,  and  ripe  capsules,  having  been  found  to 
be  two-celled.  While  it  is  very  probable  that  this  variety  may  have 
been  used  by  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  region  where  it  occurs,  I  have 
been  unable  to  obtain  any  direct  evidence  that  such  was  the  case.  Its 
relations  with  Nicotiana  Clevelandii  Gray,  both  botanically  and  as  to 
aboriginal  use,  are  still  very  uncertain. 

When  Lewis  and  Clark  visited  the  Mandan  villages  in  North 
Dakota  in  1804*  they  found  the  inhabitants  smoking  a  kind  of  tobacco 
never  seen  previously  by  white  men.  They  obtained  specimens  and 
seed  for  their  collections  as  well  as  data  for  their  report.  The  speci 
mens  brought  back  by  them  served  as  the  type  of  the  Nicotiana  quad- 
rivalws  Pursh2  and  are  now  preserved  among  the  collections  of  the 
Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia.  The  seed,  or  some 
of  it  at  least,  was  distributed  so  that  it  was  the  source  of  the  plants 
grown  in  various  botanical  gardens  in  Europe  and  its  descendants  are 
still  to  be  found  in  some  such  institutions.  A  few  years  ago,  through 
the  courtesy  of  the  Anthropological  Section  of  the  American  Museum 
of  Natural  History  of  New  York  City,  I  was  enabled  to  obtain  from 
George  F.  Will  of  Bismarck,  North  Dakota,  and  from  Melvin  Ran- 

1  Cf.    Thwaites,    Original    Journals    of    the    Lewis    and    Clark    Expedition, 
1804-1806,  vol.    i,  pp.    183,    186,    187,    1904;   vol.  6,  pp.    142,    149-151,    158,    1905, 
New   York. 

2  Flora  Americae  Septentrionalis,  vol.   i,  p.  141,   1814. 


SETCHELL]  ABORIGINAL  TOBACCOS  407 

dolph  Gilmore  of  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  seed  of  this  species  which  was 
still  being  cultivated  by  a  Hidatsa  Indian.  I  have  grown  the  descend 
ants  of  the  plants  from  this  seed  and  in  the  pure  line  for  several 
generations  and  find  that  it  still  comes  absolutely  true  to  type  as 
described  by  Lewis  and  Clark  and  as  represented  by  the  Lewis  and 
Clark  specimens.  The  plants  very  closely  resemble  those  of  the  type 
of  Nicotiana  Bigelovii,  but  the  flowers  are  neither  quite  so  large  nor 
so  graceful.  The  chief  difference  from  any  of  the  varieties  of  N. 
Bigclovii,  however,  is  to  be  found  in  the  ovary.  This  is  constantly 
four-celled  in  N.  quadrivalvis,  while  in  N.  Bigclovii,  it  is  preponderat- 
ingly  two-celled,  although  three  celled  examples  are  frequent  in  the 
type  and  in  the  northern  variety.  Nicotiana  quadrivalvis  is  not  only 
the  tobacco  of  the  Mandan,  but  of  the  Arikara  and  the  Hidatsa  In 
dians  as  well.  How  they  obtained  it  is  not  known,  but  it  is  not 
known  outside  of  cultivation.  This  latter  fact,  taken  in  connection 
with  the  close  resemblance  to  Nicotiana  Bigelovii,  the  only  essential 
difference  being  the  increase  in  the  number  of  carpels  as  shown  by 
the  four-celled  ovary,  makes  it  appear  reasonably  certain  that  N. 
quadrivalvis  is  only  a  derivative  from  some  form  of  Ar.  Bigelovii.  It 
may  possibly  have  arisen  by  a  single  mutation  or  it  may  be  a  hybrid 
derivative  from  a  cross  between  N.  Bigelovii  and  N.  multivalvis.  I 
have  obtained  forms  very  close  to  N.  quadrivalvis  as  descendants  of 
such  a  cross  and  such  forms  have  appeared  in  the  botanical  garden 
of  the  University  of  California  as  the  result  of  a  probably  spon 
taneous  cross  between  the  two  species  mentioned.  It  is  of  decided 
interest  to  find  a  Bigelovii-derivative  so  far  from  the  Bigelovii  home 
and  this  interest  is  increased  by  the  fact  that  N.  quadrivalvis  is  con 
nected  in  distribution  with  the  Californian  area  by  the  area  in  which 
Ar.  inultivalvis,  itself  seemingly  a  Bigelovii-derivative,  is  found  under 
aboriginal  cultivation. 

The  Hidatsa  tobacco,  which  is  fairly  certainly  Nicotiana  quadri 
valvis,  has  been  the  subject  of  study  by  Gilbert  L.  Wilson.1  He  says 
that  the  Hidatsa  cultivate  tobacco,  but  does  not  mention  the  species. 
It  is  not  used  by  the  young  men  because  it  prevents  running  by 

1  Agriculture  of  the  Hidatsa  Indians,  an  Indian  Interpretation,  Univ.  of 
Minnesota  Studies  in  the  Social  Sciences,  no.  9,  Minneapolis,  1917,  pp.  121—127. 


408  AMERICAN   ANTHROPOLOGIST  [N.  s.,  23,  igji 

causing  shortness  of  breath.  It  is  not  planted  near  corn  because 
tobacco  has  a  strong  smell  that  affects  corn.  In  harvesting,  the 
blossoms  are  picked  first,  the  white  parts  (corollas)  being  thrown 
away,  and  the  stems  and  leaves  are  picked  last.  Both  blossoms  and 
stems  are  treated  with  buffalo-fat  before  being  stored.  The  Hidatsa 
name  for  their  tobacco,  according  to  Lowie,1  is  ope. 

Melvin  Randolph  Gilmore,2  in  treating  of  the  uses  of  plants  by 
the  Missouri  River  Indians,  writes  as  if  they  all  used  Nicotiana 
quadrivalvis?  although  he  mentions  specifically  that  his  definite  knowl 
edge  was  of  the  Hidatsa  tobacco  only.  He  states  that  N.  qnadrivalvis 
was  cultivated  by  all  the  tribes  of  Nebraska,4  but  was  lost  as  soon  as 
they  came  into  contact  with  Europeans  and  so  completely  that  not 
even  the  oldest  Omaha  had  ever  seen  it  in  cultivation.  It  seems  fully 
as  probable  that  the  Nebraska  tribes,  being  nomads,  may  not  have 
cultivated  tobacco,  but  probably  obtained  it  by  trade.  In  this  case  it 
seems  just  as  likely  that  they  may  have  obtained  Nicotiana  nistica 
from  Indians  of  the  Eastern  Woodland  Area  or  N.  attcnuata  from 
those  of  the  Plains  Area,  as  to  have  received  N.  qnadrivalvis  from 
any  one  of  the  three  tribes  of  village  Indians  of  North  Dakota. 

Nicoti-ana  multivalvis  Lindl.,  the  fifth  and  last  member  of  the 
Bigclovii-group  to  be  considered,  bears  a  striking  resemblance  to  the 
type  of  N.  Bigelovii  and  also  to  N.  quadrivdvis  in  habit,  leaves,  and 
shape — as  well  as  color — of  the  flowers.  The  corolla,  however,  is 
usually  more  than  five-lobed,  varying  to  as  many  as  twelve  or  more 
lobes.  The  ovary  is  the  characteristic  feature  of  the  species.  It  is 
composed  of  two  circles  of  cells,  one  within  the  other  as  in  the  case 
of  the  ovary  of  the  navel-orange.  The  capsule  of  N.  multivalvis 
bears  fertile  seeds  in  all,  or  at  least  in  most,  of  its  cells.  Such  a  form 
of  ovary  as  this  is  evidently  monstrous,  at  least  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  normal  ovary  of  Nicotiana,  and  may  be  supposed  to  have 
been  derived  from  a  form  such  as  the  type  of  N.  Bigelovii  by  a  rela- 

1  The  Tobacco    Society  of  the   Crow   Indians,  Anthrop.  Papers,  Amer.  Mus. 
Nat.  Hist.,  vol.  21,  pt.  2,   1919. 

2  Uses  of  Plants  by  the  Indians  of  the   Missouri   River   Region,   33rd  Ann. 
Rep.  Bur.  Amer.  Ethnology   (for   1911-12),  pp.  43-154,   1919. 

3  Loc.  cit.,  p.  59. 
.*  Loc.  cit.,  p.   1 13. 


SETCHELL]  ABORIGINAL  TOBACCOS  409 

tively  simple  mutation.  An  additional  argument 'as  to  the  possible 
derivation  of  this  species  from  some  simpler  form  is  the  fact  that  it 
has  not  been  found  outside  of  cultivation. 

Nicotiana  multivalvis  was  discovered  by  David  Douglas1  in  Au 
gust,  1825.  The  first  specimen  he  saw  of  it  was  in  the  hands  of  an 
Indian  at  the  great  falls  of  the  Columbia  River,  but,  although  he 
offered  two  ounces  of  manufactured  tobacco,  an  enormous  remunera 
tion,  the  Indian  would  not  part  with  it.  The  Indians  planted  it  away 
from  the  villages  so  that  it  could  not  be  pulled  before  maturity.  They 
burned  a  dead  tree  or  stump  in  the  open  wood  and  strewed  the  ashes 
over  the  ground  to  be  planted.  Later  on,  Douglas  found  one  of  the 
little  plantations  and  helped  himself  to  specimens.  Soon  after,  how 
ever,  he  met  the  owner  who  appeared  much  displeased  on  seeing  the 
plants  under  Douglas's  arm.  A  present  of  an  ounce  of  European 
tobacco  appeased  him  and  the  present  of  an  additional  ounce  induced 
him  to  talk  of  the  Indian  tobacco  and  to  answer  questions  concerning 
it.  Douglas  learned  from  the  Indian  that  he  put  wood  ashes  over 
the  ground  because  it  was  supposed  that  the  ashes  make  the  tobacco 
plants  to  grow  very  large.  He  also  learned  that  this  species  of  to 
bacco  grew  plentifully  in  the  country  of  the  Snake  Indians,  who  may 
have  brought  it  from  the  headwaters  of  the  Missouri  River  which 
they  annually  visited,  and  have  distributed  it  from  this  region  and  in 
both  directions  east  and  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  This  sug 
gestion  of  the  Indian  probably  represents  a  portion  of  the  truth  as 
regards  the  travels  of  this  species,  but  the  general  trend  must  have 
been  rather  from  the  coast  to  the  eastward  and  into  the  interior,  if 
the  botanical  probabilities  are  duly  considered. 

Through  the  kindness  of  Dr.  Robert  H.  Lowie,  of  the  American 
Museum  of  Natural  History,  I  have  been  able  to  make  certain  that 
the  tobacco  which  is  of  so  much  ceremonial  importance  among  the 
Crow  Indians  is  Nicotiana  multivalvis.  I  have  examined  photo 
graphs  of  the  tobacco  gardens  of  the  Crows,  in  which  the  plants 
showed  their  characters  remarkably  well,  and  also  a  pressed  specimen 
of  an  entire  plant  concerning  whose  identity  there  can  be  no  doubt. 

i  Journal  Kept  by  David  Douglas,  etc.,  London,  1914,  pp.  59,  141  (sub.  N. 
pulverulenta  Pursh). 


410  AMERICAN   ANTHROPOLOGIST  [x.  s.,  23,  1921 

Dr.  Lowie1  has  since  published  his  paper  on  the  subject  and  brought 
forward  much  detail  concerning  the  planting  and  ceremonial  use  of 
this  species.  In  his  preface,  Dr.  Lowie  says  that  the  Tobacco  Society 
loomed  large  in  the  tribal  life  of  the  Crow,  its  ceremonial  activities 
probably  ranking  next  to  the  Sun  Dance.  The  Crows  insist  that  their 
tobacco  is  different  from  that  of  the  Hidatsa  (Nicotiana  quadrivalvis) 
and  botanically  this  idea  is  correct.  In  connection  with  the  query  as 
to  whence  the  Crow,  and  the  Hidatsa  as  well,  may  have  obtained  their 
particular  types  of  tobacco,  Dr.  Lowie,  in  addition  to  the  botanical 
evidence,  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  in  the  languages  of  several  of 
the  tribes  using  the  Bigelovii-group  of  tobaccos,  the  root  of  the  word 
for  tobacco  is  op  or  up  and  that  the  Dieguerios,  the  Shasta,  the 
Takelma,  the  Crow,  and  the  Hidatsa  agree  in  this,  while  the  tribes 
using .  other  species  of  tobacco  apply  terms  from  different  roots. 
This  linguistic  evidence  is  of  decided  interest  and  importance,  espe 
cially  when  taken  in  connection  with  the  close  botanical  relationship 
of  the  species  and  varieties  concerned. 

We  have  seen  that  the  Indians  of  the  Eastern  Woodland  Culture 
Area  and  of  the  Southeastern  Culture  Area  made  use  of  cultivated 
Nicotiana  rustica  which  probably  came  to  them  through  the  south 
western  corner  of  Texas  from  Mexico.  We  may  now  see  that  the 
Indians  of  the  greater  portions  of  the  Plains  Area,  the  Southwestern 
Area,  and  even  of  the  North  Pacific  Coast  Area  used  an  entirely 
different  species,  viz.,  Nicotiana  attenuata  Torrey.  The  tremendous 
extent  of  that  portion  of  North  America  over  which  this  species 
furnished  the  tobacco  of  the  aboriginal  tribes  is  divided  into  a  north 
ern  and  a  southern  section,  as  a  glance  at  the  accompanying  map  will 
show,  by  the  intrusion  of  two  members  of  the  Bigelovii-group,  viz., 
Ar.  quadrivalvis  and  N.  multivalvis.  Nicotiana  attenuata  is  found 
growing  wild  over  the  Southwestern  Area  and  over  the  southern  and 
middle  portions  of  the  Plains  Area,  at  least  to  the  westward,  but  was 
cultivated  over  the  northern  portion  of  the  Plains  Area  and  in  the 
North  Pacific  Coast  Area  where  it  does  not  occur  spontaneously. 
The  condition  in  the  easternmost  portion  of  the  Plains  Area  is  not 
as  yet  clear  to  me. 

i  Loc.   cit. 


SETCHELL]  ABORIGINAL  TOBACCOS  411 

The  type  specimen  of  Nicotiana  attenuata  came  from  the  Washoe 
country  in  Nevada  and  I  have  reliable  testimony  that  it  is  still  used 
by  the  Washoe  Indians,  especially  by  the  older  men.  To  the  south, 
it  is  used  by  the  Coahuilla  Indians  of  southeastern  California,1  and 
Leslie  Spier  has  also  kindly  communicated  to  me  that  the  Southern 
Dieguenos  about  Campo,  California,  use  this  species,  which  they  call 
"  Coyote  Tobacco,"  and  infrequently  cultivate  it  near  house  sites.  It 
grows  rapidly  and  high  wherever  the  ground  has  been  newly  burned 
over.  "  Coyote  Tobacco  "  is  used  by  these  Indians  to  cure  colds.  It 
is  also  used  in  the  south  by  the  Zufii  tribes,2  whence  I  have  received 
seed  through  Prof.  A.  L.  Kroeber  and  have  raised  plants,  and  by  the 
Tewa  Indians.3  It  was  used  by  the  Utes,  although  not  named  by 
Chamberlain,4  and  by  the  Gosiutes.5  Dr.  Lowie  has  submitted  to  me 
some  samples  of  the  tobacco  raised  by  the  northern  Blackfoot6  which 
seems,  although  fragmentary  and  much  broken,  to  show  the  char 
acteristic  hairs  of  this  species.  I  have  received  from  Mr.  James  Teit 
of  Spences  Bridge,  B.  C.  (through  the  kind  offices  of  Dr.  C.  F.  New- 
combe  of  Victoria),  seed  of  the  tobacco  formerly  cultivated  by  the 
Thompson  River  Indians  of  that  vicinity  and  have  demonstrated  that 
the  plants  grown  from  it  are  true  Nicotiana  attenuata.  C.  F.  New- 
combe  has  informed  me  that  he  has  strong  evidence  that  this  species 
was  also  cultivated  by  the  Indians  of  the  Queen  Charlotte  Islands  and 
used  for  chewing.  The  evidence  for  the  extent  of  the  aboriginal  use 
of  N.  attenuata  seems  to  be  convincing  for  the  area  as  mapped  and 
as  outlined  above. 

Nicotiana  attenuata  has  something  of  the  appearance  of  a  slender 
N.  Bigelovii,  but  its  flowers  are  smaller  and  less  distinctly  salverform, 

i  Barrows,  The  Ethnobotany  of  the  Coahuilla  Indians  of  Southern  Cal 
ifornia,  Univ.  of  Chicago,  p.  74,  1900. 

2  Stevenson,  Ethnobotany  of  the  Zuni  Indians,  30th  Ann.  Rep.,  Bur.  Amer. 
Ethnology,   p.    86,    1915. 

3  Robbins,    Harrington,    and    Freire-Marreco,    Botany    of   the   Tewa   Indians, 
Bull.   55,  Bur.  Amer.   Ethnology,   pp.    103—107,    1916. 

*  Chamberlain,  Some  Plant  Names  of  the  Ute  Indians,  Amer.  Anthrop., 
n.  s.,  vol.  ii,  1909. 

5  Ibid.,   Ethnobotany   of  the   Gosiute   Indians,  Mem.  Amer.  Anthrop.  Assoc., 
vol.  2,  pt.   5.  p.  345,    1911. 

6  Lowie,  loc.  cit.,  p.    112. 


412  AMERICAN   ANTHROPOLOGIST  [N.S.,  23,   1921 

the  lower  leaves  more  distinctly  petioled,  while  the  glandular  hairs 
often  have  a  swollen,  bladdery  base  which,  in  collapse,  gives  a  blistery 
appearance.  This  appearance  is  of  the  greatest  service  in  identifying 
fragments,  particularly  of  the  calyx  parts.  The  plant  itself  is  tall, 
erect,  and  often  slender,  although  very  robust  plants  are  found  in 
favorable  localities. 

One  of  the  least  satisfactorily  known  species  of  Nicotiana  in 
North  America  is  N.  Clevelandii  Gray.  I  know  of  this  species  only 
through  the  dried  specimens  in  the  different  herbaria  in  this  country. 
The  specimens  referred  to  this  species  even  by  Gray  himself  vary  so 
considerably  that  I  feel  much  doubt  as  to  the  exact  nature  of  the 
specific  characters.  I  have  attempted  to  obtain  plants  and  seeds  from 
students  who  might  be  in  a  position  to  collect  them,  but  without  suc 
cess.  N.  Clevelandii  seems  to  have  some  characters  similar  to  those 
considered  peculiar  to  N.  attenuata  and  other  characters  similar  to 
those  of  N.  Bigelovii  var.  Wallacei.  Some  specimens  referred  to 
N.  Clevelandii  have  more  the  general  appearance  of  one  of  the  two 
species  just  mentioned,  while  others  are  very  much  more  like  the 
other  of  the  two.  One  suggestion  which  seems  probable  is  that  these 
puzzling  plants  are  hybrid  derivatives  of  the  two  species  which  they 
resemble.  So  far  as  may  be  determined,  N.  Clevelandii  is  confined 
to  the  coastward  side  of  southern  California,  extending  from  Santa 
Barbara  to  San  Diego.  The  relation  to  aboriginal  use  or  culture  of 
this  species  is  as  unsettled  as  its  botanical  status.  Rothrock1  states 
that  he  found  N.  Clevelandii  only  in  association  with  shell  heaps  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Santa  Barbara,  California,  and,  on  account  of 
the  tobacco  pipes  found  in  the  same  heaps,  suggests  that  this  may  be 
the  species  used  by  the  tribes  of  Indians  who  made  the  pipes.  Pos 
sibly,  also,  this  may  be  the  tobacco  mentioned  by  Sparkman2  as  hav 
ing  been  formerly  used  by  the  Luiseno  Indians  of  southern  California 
and  called  in  their  language  "  pavivut." 

There  is  a  very  interesting  species,  of  striking  appearance,  Nico 
tiana  trigonophylla,  in  the  southwestern  United  States,  ranging  from 

i  Botany,  in  Report  U.  S.  Geoff.  Surveys  West  of  the  looth  Meridian  in  charge 
of  First  Lieut.  George  M.  Wheeler,  vol.  vi,  p.  48,  1878. 

2  The  Culture  of  the  Luiseno  Indians,  Univ.  Calif.  Pub.,  Amer.  Archaeol. 
and  Ethnol.,  vol.  8,  p.  229,  1908. 


SETCIIELL]  ABORIGINAL  TOBACCOS  413 

southeastern  California  to  the  western  borders  of  Texas.  Its  aspect 
is  very  different  from  that  of  any  other  species  of  the  genus  in  North 
America.  It  occurs  in  the  lower  portion  of  the  territory  occupied  by 
Nicotiana  attenuate,  where  the  latter  species  is  the  one  usually  em 
ployed  for  smoking.  There  is,  however,  a  specimen  in  the  U.  S. 
National  Herbarium  (No.  13478),  collected  in  Arizona  by  Edward 
Palmer  in  1885,  which  has  the  note  "  used  by  the  Yuma  Indians."  I 
am  very  much  indebted  to  Leslie  Spier  of  the  University  of  Wash 
ington  for  the  information  that  this  species  (identified  by  Paul 
Standley  of  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium)  is  used  by  the  Havasupai 
Indians  of  Cataract  Canyon  in  Arizona,  a  branch  of  the  Yuman  stock. 
The  Havasupai  distinguish  two  sorts  of  this  tobacco  which  look  alike, 
but  which  they  say  smoke  differently.  The  Havasupai  cut  down  a 
mesquite  tree,  burn  it  on  the  unbroken  soil,  and  scatter  the  tobacco 
seed  over  the  dead  ashes. 

The  remaining  four  species  of  Nicotiana  found  native  in  North 
America,  or  in  the  islands  immediately  adjacent  to  it,  viz.,  N.  repanda 
Willd.,  N.  nudicaulis  Watson,  N.  plumbaginifolia  Viv.,  and  N.  Stock- 
toni  Brandegee,  are  not,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain,  sus 
pected  of  being  associated  with  aboriginal  use,  although  some  of  them 
seem  as  well  adapted  to  smoking,  at  least,  as  some  of  those  which  are 
widely  used. 

UNIVERSITY  OF   CALIFORNIA, 
BERKELEY,    CALIF. 


AMERICAN   ANTHROPOLOGIST 


[N.  s.,  23,   1921 


EXPLANATION  OF  THE  PLATE 

The  map  used  to  indicate  the  areas  of  use  of  the  different  species  of 
Nicotiana  in  North  America,  is  obtained  from  the  Department  of  Anthro 
pology  of  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History  of  New  York  City  and 
is  the  same  as  that  given  by  Dr.  Clark  Wissler  in  The  American  Indian 
(New  York,  1917,  fig.  103).  The  lines  delimiting  the  different  Nicotiana 
areas  follow  more  or  less  closely  those  used  to  mark  off  the  various  "  Cul 
ture  Areas"  from  one  another  (cf.  Wissler,  loc.  cit.,  fig.  67),  but  with  some 
differences.  Within  the  different  Nicotiana  areas,  the  larger  number  within 
a  single  circle  indicates  the  general  species  used,  presumably  throughout  the 
area,  while  the  smaller  number  within  a  circle  indicates  a  tribe  definitely 
known  to  have  used  it.  The  numbers  in  double  circles  placed  without  the 
borders  of  the  land,  but  with  arrows  drawn  to  indicate  the  regions  to  which 
they  belong,  indicate,  with  the  exception  of  No.  10,  species  not  as  yet  known 
to  have  been  in  aboriginal  use.  The  following  is  a  list  of  the  species,  each 
with  its  appropriate  number : 

I.  Nicotiana  Tabacum  L. 


2. 
3- 

4- 
5- 
6. 

7- 
8. 

9- 
10. 
ii. 


rustica  L. 

Bigclovii  (Torrey)   Watson   (typical  form). 

(tall   form). 

(var.  WaUacci  Gray). 
quadrii'ak'is  Pursh. 
multirah-is  Lindley. 
attenuata  Torrey. 
Clei'elandii  Gray. 
trigonophylla  Dunal. 
repanda  Willdenow. 


I  am  indebted  to  Mr.   Charles  E.   Davis  of  Edgewood,  R.   I.,   for  the 
preparation  of  this  plate. 


AMERICAN    ANTHROPOLOGIST 


N.    S.  VOL.   23,   PL.    3 


DISTRIBUTION   OF  NORTH   AMERICAN   ABORIGINAL  TOBACCOS 


